Aspekte im Zusammenhang mit der Koexistenz von genetisch veränderten und nicht genetisch veränderten Organismen: Aus der Sicht der USA

Summary The US food system is embedded as a supply chain within a diverse, ever‐changing, and broad economic, biophysical, and socio‐political context. A variety of actors with diverse goals are interested in increasing agricultural productivity, protecting the environment, improving food quality, and/or improving specific aspects of health, and their decisions shape the food system. US regulatory policy on GMO s is based on the principle of substantial equivalence – GMO and non‐ GMO foods contain comparable amounts of basic components – which is favourable to new technologies. Anti‐ GMO activists seem to be less concerned about using mandatory labelling to increase consumer choice and more interested in using a GMO label to stigmatise food products so as to eliminate GMO s from store shelves. However, federal legislation is being considered to create a new voluntary ‘free of GMO s’ food label that would require costly verification and special handling. It would also pre‐empt States from enacting mandatory GM labelling policies. The US is a society where the majority of consumers are indifferent to or favour GMO foods and only a minority, but a growing one, is opposed. A national mandatory GM labelling policy is not expected to gain wide political support but a voluntary ‘free of GMO s’ label might.